2012 Position Paper
Long-term Funding for Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute
GOAL: Seek long-term Federal funding for the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute (GLMRI) co-chaired by the University of Wisconsin-Superior and the University of Minnesota Duluth. GLMRI currently operates on a cooperative agreement with the Maritime Administration that funds projects on a one-year-at-a-time basis, but to be truly functional for industry, R&D has to be a long-term, on-going venture.
BACKGROUND: The Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute was established in 2004 and represents a consortium of colleges throughout the Great Lakes region. GLMRI is dedicated to developing and improving environmentally sustainable maritime commerce on the Great Lakes through applied research.
Although GLMRI has been in existence for less than a decade, it already has initiated significant projects. GLMRI is, for example, developing a Seaway-Sized Bulk Carrier Model for Hydrodynamic Optimization of Ballast-Free Ship Design in partnership with the University of Michigan. In cooperation with the University of Toledo (Ohio), the Institute is creating a groundbreaking website that will be the repository for all types of information regarding cargo movement on the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway and the economic benefits waterborne commerce generates.
More recently GLMRI has initiated a study of fueling commercial vessels with LNG and is working with interests worldwide. Closer to home, GLMRI supports a K-12 Teachers program in the summer that helps teachers develop classroom lessons about Great Lakes shipping.
The Great Lakes region has long needed an organization such as GLMRI. The unique nature of Great Lakes shipping, both domestic, U.S./Canada, and overseas, requires a tightly-focused approach. While transportation studies are being conducted elsewhere, their results may not transfer well to this system. Research that will bring new trades and jobs and address Lakes-specific environmental concerns must be conducted by an organization based in and dedicated to the region and its transportation system.
Uncertainty about continued funding for GLMRI is hampering its efforts to engage in research. Its first appropriation was in a Coast Guard bill. Its second appropriation was in the Transportation bill. GLMRI needs imbedded program status if it is to move forward.
ACTION: Work with Great Lakes delegation to have GLMRI funding become an imbedded program and to ensure long-term funding for this important research.
